[Skarg]

Well that's the thing. That DOES seem to be the reasoning for the errata change, but in practice it really doesn't happen unless someone moves thoughtlessly. And even then, you also have to move to block off all other valid retreat hexes, hurt them, have them not hurt anyone, and then they have to fail a DX roll.

And without such a rule, pits are just not a hazard at all for anyone even fighting right alongside one, which doesn't represent the situation well, disappointing (why have a map with a pit if it doesn't exist for game purposes?), and not very fun or interesting.

Having played a ridiculous amount of TFT combat, and an even more ridiculous amount of GURPS combat, including on maps designed with pit-spanning bridges specifically for the purpose of that being an interesting fun situation for people to worry about, while I have seen some rather stupid PC deaths (all of which were nevertheless interesting and memorable and almost all fun), I have never seen a PC get knocked into a pit in actual play (except while climbing and failing a climbing roll and/or getting shot). I have seen them worry about the possibility, and tactics be shaped around that risk, and I have seen and experienced the fun of knocking opponents into pits. And, if a PC had fallen into a pit and died, I am sure that would have been taken as a fun and memorable death. All of that fun would be removed by removing the chance of falling into a pit. And in the theoretical cases where PCs are forced against pits and would have had a chance to fall in but were spared by this rule being removed, they probably would have just been killed anyway since it only happens when you're surrounded and getting hurt while failing to hurt anyone.